Jan 24, 2013

Spread the Love: Apply to Be a World Book Night Giver

Posted by
Nora

Full disclosure: this is our please-apply-to-be-a-World-Book-Night-giver blog post.

The deadline is fast-approaching (ok, it's tomorrow!), so if you've been having internal debates, or even external ones, about whether or not to apply, we're here to settle the argument and tell you to APPLY!
For those of you who don't know
about World Book Night (or WBN), it takes place on April 23, and over the course of one night, thousands of givers hand out over half a million specially printed books to people who don't normally read that much. In places as varied as bus stops, coffee shops, shelters, and grocery stores, people go outside of their comfort zones to spread the love of reading and hand out a book to someone. It's a magical thing.
Last year was the first time it took place in the U.S. and it was a resounding success. Here are some of the quotes from WBN's website:

“Gave a book to a woman this morning, who took it with tears in her eyes. She told me that she rarely gets to the library and cannot afford to buy new books on her own. She graciously took the book, opened it up, smelled the pages, said ‘God bless you, my child,’ and walked away clutching her new found treasure. Makes me tear up too, thinking about what a difference we are making today!” – Adrian
“Tonight I had a high school boy say, ‘I’m new to the whole reading for fun thing,’ and then show me the books he got for #wbnamerica.” – Lauren
“I gave

The Kite Runner to a veteran who had been stationed in Afghanistan. He was very excited to read the book and ‘learn something about the place and gain some understanding.’ So rewarding. Thank you to the organizers, authors and publishers!” – Jennifer
“Shared my books with ESL students tonight. They were so excited and a bit surprised that it was for ‘enjoyment,’ not ‘homework.’ Thanks for a wonderful idea.” – Kevin
“It was great to walk back by where I had been and see people already reading!!” – Colleen

This year--with over 2,000 library and bookstore partners, and events that will be hosted around the country--things prove to be just as exciting. It really is a wonderful night and a great thing to be a part of, so like we said before, APPLY! In fact, we'll make it really easy for you, here is the link directly to the application. The only hard part is deciding which book to give...